Recipe: ‘healthy’ brownies

Brownies are the ultimate treat. However, since I found out about my wheat intolerance,  a batch of brownies isn’t necessarily a good idea for me to indulge on. Until I found this recipe. These brownies are moist, packed with flavor, but are gluten, grain and refined sugar free. The ultimate treat and (almost) guilt free.

How amazing does this look? I made these for Easter (with some left over walnuts) and my entire family ate them without fussing that they weren’t nice. I made them again since (this time with some orange zest thrown in the mix) and those were delicious as well. This is how you make them:

• 1 cup Almond Meal/Flour (this is essentially just finely ground almonds, which you can do yourself if you have a food processor)
• ¾ cup honey
• 5 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon  sea salt
• 1/2 cup coconut oil or butter
• 2 eggs (I use large eggs from our own chickens)
• ¼  tsp baking soda (optional)
• 1 tsp vanilla

Melt the coconut oil/butter on low heat in a medium size pot,  just until melted (don’t let it get too hot or boil). Remove from heat. Add the honey so that it will soften as well.  Save on dishes and just add everything else to the pot and mix it up. Mix well.

Spread in a lightly greased 8X8 cake pan.

Bake at 350* for about 25 minutes for fudgier brownies or until the center is set and doesn’t really jiggle. For more cake-like bake for 30 minutes. Be sure not to overcook, they are better undercooked if anything in my opinion.

Cool before removing it from the pan. Chill in the fridge until serving.

I make mine using butter instead of coconut oil, since I find it easier to measure. With coconut oil these will be a tad healthier than with butter, but since I don’t eat that many carbs, the fats from the butter are a nice addition here. Other than that, these brownies are about as healthy as baked goods can get. This recipe is not recommended if you have an allergy for nuts, as it contains ground up almonds to fuse it all together. My almond meal is simply store bought by the way: I bought mine  from De Tuinen.

These are super easy to make as well. You do not need a mixer to make these: simply stir well to mix everything together until everything is incorporated. I decided to add nuts the first time I made these and some orange zest the second time. Both came out nicely. I think I liked the orange zest version best, as that flavor adds a bit of sweetness to the brownies. Since these do not contain sugar, but a fair amount of honey, these brownies are not as sweet as a traditional brownie. Also, using honey for baking allows some of it to caramelize which can make for a bit of a bitter aftertaste combined with the cocoa powder. I thought the orange zest masked that quite nicely.

I simply can’t wait to make more variations. The website where I found this, also lists a peppermint version and I can think of version with raspberries, currents, cranberries, oats and the like. It’s simply a great basic recipe to have. The best part is that these brownies aren’t too overpowering. You know how brownies can be a bit hefty on the stomach and fill your right up? These do not have that effect at all and thus serve as a perfect dessert, or midday snack.

Enjoy your cooking. 🙂

I found the recipe on this website.